14 DAY TRIAL // Seeker, Slayer, Survivor is the second major DLC for Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but it's totally unrelated to Beast of Winter, so if you didn't get the first DLC, there's no reason to skip the second one. Obviously, if you've bought the Season Pass, Beast of Winter and Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLCs should be available to your free of charge.
Before we go into more details, keep in mind that you won't be able to access the Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLC unless your party is level 16 or higher and have completed Magran's Teeth chain quest. Unlike Beast of Winter, this DLC focuses on combat, so if that's not your cup of coffee, you may want to skip it.
However, Obsidian wrapped it up nicely so it won't alienate RPG fans looking for more adventures in the Deadfire archipelago. Seeker, Slayer, Survivor has a story of its own that's delivered to players in the form of arena challenges and various tasks.
There are about two dozens arena battles that players can fight, but most of them are optional. To start the Seeker, Slayer, Survivor quest chain, you'll have to enter the interior of your ship and talk to the Steward, who will point you to the path to the island of Kazuwari, the home of the Crucible.
The Crucible is an ancient combat arena run by the Faces of the Hunt, which is meant to challenge the Watcher's (and his party) fighting skills. If the previous DLC sent players into the realm of Rymrgand, the god of all manifestation of death, famine and plague, Seeker, Slayer, Survivor focuses on Galawain, the patron of hunt in all its forms.
The Faces of the Hunt represent Galawain's three facets as god of the hunt: Seeker, Slayer, and Survivor. After finishing the first set of challenges, you'll be sent to various locations on the island of Kazuwari to retrieve some ritual artifacts that will open up new challenges.
The arena combat challenges are organically implemented in the story, so I didn't really felt that this is just a series of fights gated by various errands that you have to complete in order to unlock them.
One thing that I did not like is the fact that some errands required to open up a new set of challenges require passing skill checks, so if your character isn't specifically built for those skills you'll have to retrain them at the nearest tavern. Not really a big deal, but it defeats the purpose of having these challenges implemented as smoothly as possible.
Every time your party accepts a challenge, you'll be teleported in the arena and offered the chance to scout your enemy's strengths and weaknesses so that you can prepare in advance. There's so much gear in the game that it's impossible not to find armor and weapons that are good against the enemy you'll be facing in the arena.
Many of the challenges included in the DLC can be unlocked by sacrificing artifacts in the so-called Pool of Memories, but you'll first have to find and retrieve these artifacts by revisiting some of the iconic locations in the Deadfire Archipelago. All these artifacts are optional, so they're not required to finish the storyline, but since every challenge offers nice rewards, I do recommend getting them.
I believe Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLC is aimed at players who favor combat over anything else in a RPG, and are looking for new reasons to revisit Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Also, if you'd like learn more about the Pillars of Eternity's pantheon, Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLC is a definitely must-buy since it exclusively focuses on one of the gods you briefly meet in the PoE II.
